01042025-JTR-01.qxd 3/31/2025 11:37 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PREPARING YOUTH FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE AAMIR KHAN'S SWEET GESTURE... ACTORS GIVE US A PEEK INTO THEIR EID CELEBRATIONS Principal Kiran Joth Dhillon shares her insights into building an eco-conscious generation through education. P3 On Eid, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan spends some quality time with his family members. P4 A special Eid lunch at home set the tone for Rukhsar. She indulged in her favourite Eid dish: sheer khurma. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 30°C | MIN 12°C YESTERDAY MAX 30°C | MIN 10°C SUNSET TUESDAY 6.47 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 6:15 AM TUESDAY | 1 APRIL 2025 | JALANDHAR Jalandhar from Iraq, Farmers stage dharna in Two ofhome afterrescuedstruggle return 14-day front of ministers’ houses Instead of Kuwait, they were taken to Iraq, forced to work hard, denied wages ■ MP Balbir Seechewal’s intervention ensures their safe return ■ Hold sit-in at Ravjot’s office in Hoshiarpur |Give Bhagat demand charter Ashok Kaura Tribune Reporters Jalandhar, March 31 Members of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-political) on Monday staged a dharna outside the residence of minister Mohinder Bhagat, expressing anger against the government for their forcible eviction from Shambhu and Khanauri borders. State president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Salwinder Janian led the protest with district president Gurmail Rerwan. Farmers were agitated as they said they were stopped at three locations even today by the police that were preventing them from lodging a protest even. They had to cross barricades to gather at the site. They said even women farmers had to face hurdles to reach the venue site. The farmers started their protest around noon and continued to express their anger against the state government for four hours. State vicepresident Jasvir Piddi read out the demands of farmer unions which included legal MSP guarantee on crops, reimbursement for the loss of their tractors, bikes, mobiles, kitchenware, furniture and Farmers hold a protest outside the residence of minister Mohinder Bhagat in Jalandhar on Monday. TRIBUNE PHOTO:MALKIAT SINGH. electrical appliances that they had been using at Shambhu and Khanauri morchas. The farmers are also demanding action against the police for cane charging them at Shambhu. They also alleged that an AAP MLA was behind the action against them. During the protest, Bhagat came out of his house to accept the charter of demands of the farmers and assured them of taking their issues with the government. HOSHIARPUR: The Bharatiya Kisan Union held a protest outside the office of minister Dr Ravjot today. On this occasion, farmer leader Manjit Singh Rai said the union staged a protest outside the houses of ministers in connection with the betrayal that the government had done to farmers. He said the government played an Truck carrying pilgrims overturns, 20 injured Garhshankar, March 31 A truck carrying devotees on the Garhshankar-Nangal road overturned near Kot and Shahpur, leaving more than 20 devotees injured seriously. They were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Garhshankar, for treatment. From there, doctors referred them to the Civil Hospital, Patiala, after primary treatment. About 30 devotees from village Kangthali, tehsil Guhlan, district Kaithal, Haryana, were returning to Amritsar after paying obeisance at various religious places in the vehicle. Around 9.30 am, as soon as the truck (PB-23-D- 2455) reached near Kot village, it lost control and overturned. The police reached the spot as soon as they got the information and ASI Balveer Singh and other police personnel and passersby took the injured to the Civil Hospital. The doctors referred all of The truck that overturned near Garhshankar. them to the Civil Hospital, Patiala. The seriously injured included Jaswinder Kaur, Balveer Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Prabhjot Singh, Harjot Singh, Joginder Kaur, Sandeep Kaur, Gurpreet Kaur, Navneet Kaur, Jaswinder Kaur, Amarinder Kaur, Navreet Kaur, Sahijpreet Kaur, Manjinder Singh, all res- idents of village Kangthali. Under the leadership of Kar Seva Saint Baba Gurmukh Singh, about 30 devotees from Kangthali village of Haryana set out to pay obeisance at various religious places. The vehicle was being driven by Jhujar Singh of Sultanwind village, Amritsar district. — OC important role in forcing the farmers to leave the dharna. He said the government is now torturing the farmers in collaboration with the Centre. He said the government is also silent regarding the theft of farmers’ trolleys from the Khanauri border. He said the Centre has arranged a meeting on May 4. He will attend it, but whether to hold a meeting with the Punjab Government or not will be considered. PHAGWARA, March 31 The ordeal of Indians facing hardships in Gulf countries continues unabated. Two men Gurpreet Singh and Sodhi Ram of Pattar Kalan in Jalandhar were duped by travel agents and sent to Iraq instead of Kuwait. They were held captive by company officials, forced into gruelling labour and denied proper food and wages. Describing their time in Iraq as troublesome, they said a single day in captivity was like a year. Upon their return, they expressed gratitude to Rajya Sabha MP and environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, whose timely intervention made their escape possible. Gurpreet Singh and Sodhi Ram had taken loans to pay ?1.85 lakh each to travel agents for job placements in Kuwait. However, on arrival, they realised they had been deceived and were instead taken to Iraq where they were exploited. Despite working under extreme conditions, they received no salary, no medical care and barely enough food to survive. Before being allowed to leave, the company forced MP Balbir Singh Seechewal with two rescued Punjabi youths. them to sign multiple documents likely aimed at securing legal protection for their exploitative practices. The two men had lost all hope of returning home until Seechewal intervened. Their families, struggling with financial hardships, had reached out to Seechewal on March 15. Acting swiftly, he sought help from the Min- istry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy. Thanks to their coordinated efforts, Gurpreet and Sodhi were able to return to India on March 28 — just 14 days after the rescue efforts began. Seechewal extended his gratitude to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy for their prompt action in bringing the men ~44.35 cr property tax recovered SHO, ASI nabbed for demanding ~1.50L bribe Tribune News Service Hoshiarpur, March 31 A team of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested a Sub-Inspector (SI) Raman Kumar, posted as the Station House Officer (SHO) at Bulowal in Hoshiarpur district, along with his subordinate, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Gurdeep Singh, on Sunday for demanding a bribe of Rs 1,50,000. An official spokesperson of the VB disclosed today that the arrests followed an inquiry into an online complaint filed by a resident of Asalpur village in Hoshiarpur district on the Chief Minister’s Anti-Corruption Action Line. The complainant alleged that an FIR had been registered at the police station against his nephew under the NDPS Act and the accused police personnel were threatening to implicate his son in the case under Section 29 of the Act. According to the complaint, the ASI had initially demanded a bribe of Rs 1,50,000 on behalf of the SHO to spare his son but after negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs 1 lakh. The complainant recorded conversations between himself and the accused policemaen in which they demanded the bribe and submitted the audio evidence to the VB. The spokesperson further stated that after verifying the complaint by the VBHoshiarpur unit and obtaining legal advice, a case had been registered against both accused under Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 61(2) of the BNS and Section 59 of the NDPS Act at the VB Police Station in Jalandhar Range. “Both have been arrested and will be produced before the court tomorrow. Further investigation is underway, said Harpreet Mander, SSP , VB, Jalandhar range. — OC Jalandhar, March 31 The total recovery made by the property tax department in this financial year is Rs 44.35 crore. The department staff were coming to the office even on holidays. In the last three days, the recovery of Rs 1 crore was made. The target for this financial year was Rs 50 crore. During the last financial year, the target was Rs 43 crore and the recovery was Rs 41 crore. From tomorrow, 20 per cent penalty will be imposed and 1.5 per cent interest will be charged every month, he said. The defaulters are served notices under Section 112 of the Municipal Corporation Act. They have to file a reply within three days, failing which another notice of sealing the property will be served under Section 138 of the Act. Huge rush of Bacchus lovers outside a liquor vend at Lamma Pind chowk in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH Bacchus lovers make beeline for vends Jalandhar, March 31 As it was the last day for the 2024-25 financial year’s liquor licence holders to sell of their stocks, it turned out to be a huge chance for the bacchus lovers to buy liquor at the slashed prices. Even as liquor vends at posh city areas hardly had any buyers, there was a huge rush in Bastis of the city and at Lamma Pind chowk vends. The prices of IMFL liquor brands saw a drop of nearly 40 per cent and those of PML brands fell by 60-70 per cent. There was so much rush at the Lamma Pind chowk vend that the booze lovers had to wait for 15-20 minutes to get their turn to grab their bottle. Similarly, vends in Kartarpur and Phillaur areas also announced a huge drop in the price of liquor. Unlike previous years, there was no drum beating and no banners were put up for sale of cheaper liquor. The message seemed to have got spread among the buyers by word of mouth or through social media. The liquor vends allocation was held by way of auction on March 18. — TNS Lone teacher makes primary school an example for others Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, March 31 For years, the lone teacher at a government school in Phillaur is teaching students not only from classes 1st to 5th, but pre-primary as well. He has held the baton of the school for the past eight years. Government Primary School-Jhandi Peer, Kadiana in Phillaur, is situated at a remote area. The school has grown leaps and bounds because of the sincere efforts made by Jagjit Singh Randhawa, the only teacher at the school, who had joined it in 2017. Not only did he turn the school into a smart one because of his hard work, but also went to the nearby areas and admitted children to the school who used to beg to earn a living. The school has great infrastructure, beautiful walls, rooms and attractive paintings. Nobody could imagine a government primary school at such a remote area to be this beautiful that stands out among all. Besides persuading the students in and around the village to join the school, he also encourages them to take part in sports activities. When he joined, there were only 14 students, but with his efforts, today there are nearly 80 stu- dents. “I am hopeful that we will have around 90 students in the next session,” Jagjit Singh said. He is doing home visits of kids and telling the parents to send their wards to the school. Before Randhawa joined, back. He urged Punjabis, especially those from economically weaker backgrounds, to be cautious before seeking jobs in Gulf countries. Furthermore, he called upon law enforcement agencies to take strict action against fraudulent travel agents who exploit vulnerable job seekers. teachers used to come only on a deputation basis in the school. Randhawa had also visited the school twice. It was then he took note of the neglected state of the school. He says there was nothing in c m y b the school back then. Then, he contacted NRIs of his village and then got many facilities for the school. About two years ago, he made girls belonging to financially poor families compete with well-trained participants from private schools. It was a block-level competition. Randhawa, who encouraged the girls to take part in the event, said these young swimmers suffered a lot in their lives. “They live in poor conditions and there were times when people would help the family with food and other things. Even the girls were into begging. The girls learnt swimming by spending hours in the river.” he said. The teacher, while recalling the incident, said the girls were not regular in the school. “I once went to their jhuggis to ask their parents to send them to the school regularly. Their parents told me that the girls had gone to swim in the river,” the teacher said. Last year also, a girl from his school stood first in the district-level sports tournament and has participated in statelevel tournament. Now, the teacher feels that staff crunch could be a spoilsport. “I really want that teachers must join so that we have good teachers to teach the students,” he said. For two years, another teacher from Mansa had also joined the school but then she was transferred. “I want my school to grow higher and I want my students to grow in life,” he further added.